East Kilbride cyclist breaks record and wins women's title at Etape Loch Ness 2021
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Catriona Lockie set a new women's record on her way to winning the women's title at Etape Loch Ness 2021 in Inverness.
In her second time at the event, the 29-year-old cyclist from East Kilbride took gold in a time of two hours 54 minutes and 59 seconds on the 66 mile course on Sunday morning.
The Torvelo Racing club rider took the female title almost five minutes ahead of Jane Wolfendale of Glasgow Nightingale Cycling Club (2:59:45) with former winner Alison Leitch from Orkney Cycling Club third (3:00:02).
Lockie broke Leitch's previous course record of 2:55:13 by 14 seconds on her way to securing the title.
She also won the Queen of the Mountain title consisting of a 4.8 mile (9km) climb to the top of the Glendoe summit in a time of 24 minutes and 39 seconds.
Lockie says she was delighted with her performance to secure such an emphatic victory in the women's race.
"This is my second time competing as I did it a few years ago and I came back today to try and do better than last time.
"The first few miles were quite foggy and there was a bit of headwind, but there wasn't anything too bad.
"As we got to the second half of the race it started to clear up a bit and the sun came out for the final 15 miles."
Before the race, Lockie felt she was in contention to win the women's title, but said she knew she faced a tough challenge from other riders.
"I thought that I had a chance, but I knew there were other girls here who were pretty good.
"I just tried to ride my own race and when it got to the hill I gave it as much as I could.
"That is where I felt I was able to open a gap between me and the other women.
"I have not done many races before so this is good for me and I am really happy."
